In Kanchanaburi for Chinese New Years Eve

I'm still relaxing in Kanchanaburi at the Jolly Frog. The place just drags you in and makes you not want to leave. I have figured out that it is the nicest place to stay in Kanchanaburi, in fact it is always full. I said before it was full of regulars but some of them are really long term. One guy has been here for two months, another for 8 months, and a girl has been here for one and a half years, she is writing a book. The cheep single rooms make it so people choose it as a place for long term stays. A japanese guy I met actually pays to keep the room while he travels around because it is not as much trouble than worrying about the place being full.

The first night I thought I would go to bed early but I ran into the Australian couple (actually an australian woman and a japanese man) and went to the night market with them. Its like a market for the locals with everything from a department store you would want, not native crafts. Then at one end there was the food section. The couple goes there every night to get some food and then bring it back to the Jolly Frog to eat it on the barge on the river. That was a fun thing to do before I went to bed.

The view from outside my room!

Yesterday I relaxed for the early part of the day reading in the garden and checking with the front desk for a single room. The first day I litterally got the last room in the place and it was a double. At about 11 a single opened up and I moved rooms. I thought I wouldn't do anything all day but relax but a nice woman from germany I met at breakfast invited me on a walk to the Bridge over the river Kwai (yes, the same one as the book, and movie). Its a railroad bridge that was built during WWII by the japanese. It was a good walk over a road bridge to the other side of the river, then down to the railroad bridge. The german woman is scared of heights and the railroad bridge is not the safest bridge so she didn't want to go across. I felt bad but I really wanted to walk across it and walk back to the hostel on the town side of the river, and she said that was fine so we seperated and walked back seperately.

The Bridge over the river Kwai

On the way back I stopped at a little ex-pat bar/bookstore. The owner is a nice jolly fat american ex-pat who has lived here for 7 years. He struck up a conversation with me so I sat down and talked. It turns out he strikes up a conversation with everyone and thats basically how he fills his seats. Its nice though because he seemed to just want company and didn't pressure me to buy anything. After talking for a while I figured I might as well get a beer and settle in. He told me all kinds of things about this place, like that the Hin Dat hot springs have bungalos you can stay at right there, the guidebook didn't even tell me that!

At the bar I met a really nice girl from Canada that just arrived in town so we went out to get some dinner. After dinner I showed her the night market and we got some desert, then I showed her the Jolly Frog. I felt bad because she wanted to stay there but it was full and after I showed it to her she said it was way nicer than her place and half the price. She went back to her place and we made plans to meet again tonight for dinner, she is doing a tour all day today. I decided not to do any tours because I heard they are rushed and you don't get time to really experience what you go and see.

After that I thought I'd go to bed but I wasn't tired yet so I went to the "No Name Bar" to hang out with the Irish guy Keit I had met the first day. He invited me when we crossed paths in town. We hung out and played pool, he's a really good guy and one of my favorite people I've met so far. He does tie chi (probably spelled horribly) in the garden twice a day, and is just a good hearted person.

Today has been way lazier than expected. I thought I'd be over the jet lag but I don't seem to be. Plus it is the Chinese New Years Eve so firecrackers were going off all over the place early in the morning. I actually had breakfast with a german guy and is Thai boy boyfriend or whatever. I didn't really realize that the boy was probably a whore untill I was already agreed to have breakfast together. It was fine though, both were nice and I just pretended like it was a relationship, which it might have been, who knows. So, I've just been talking to other travelers and reading all day, this is my first time out to town today.

I've had some thoughts on single traveling, and am starting to get a hang of it. You just have to be out going and introduce your self to people, be nice, and let it go from there. Other single travelers are doing the same thing and just looking for like minded people to spend some time with. It seems like everyone is out here for there own reasons. Some to party, some to relax, some to see culture, and some just because they love traveling. And talking to people about different things, like the meditation thing, everyone has there own opinion. One guy who did it said he was glad he did it but could not handle the life of a monk, another said it was there favorite thing to do in Thailand, and another said they couldn't handle it and had to leave. Plus just what people are interested in is so different. One guy said Malaysia was boring and another said it was his favorite country in southeast Asia. I think I'll just have to go on my own journey and make my own opinions.

Well thats enough for now, its time to go meet that Canadian girl and go to dinner soon.